A short conversation on individual responsibility
(Originally published on Mastodon, where I get these kinds of comments all the time.)
X: We need systemic changes to tackle the climate crisis, guilting people into turning off their air con is pointless, we need to address corporate behaviour.
Me: Totally.
X: That’s why it’s okay for me to drive an SUV, fly for weekly for work, gamble on bitcoin, and replace carbon-effective tools with LLMs everywhere I can.
Me: No… wait, what?
X: In fact, implying I have any personal responsibility to do the right thing is ablist, classist, and deeply unethical. You are a bad person.
Me: But the things you cite are specifically behaviours that both have a high environmental impact, respond directly to end user demand, are unambiguously bad for the environment and have analogues with a much lower environmental impact. They are clear examples where individual choice can actually matter.
X: You already agreed with me that individual responsibility didn’t matter. You’re both being inconsistent and an asshole for lecturing me about my SUV and chatbots.
Me: You aren’t personally responsible for climate change, the system is, but that doesn’t absolve you from the duty to avoid unambiguously harmful products. Esp. if they’re as harmful as SUVs, LLMs, or cruises—outright environmental disasters.
X: You can’t say we don’t have personal responsibility for the crisis and then tell us to take personal responsibility. Pick a lane.
Me: Somebody doing the Wrong Thing does not absolve you from having to do the Right Thing! One person turning vegetarian won’t save the world, but that doesn’t mean they should feel free to buy whale meat.
X: That makes no sense. They’re the polluters, not me. We need to fix their behaviour so I can keep on doing whatever I want.
Me: So, just because somebody else is a massive polluter, it’s okay for you to pollute a little by choosing to use some of the most harmful tech available to the end-user?
X: You’re deliberately phrasing that in a way that makes me sound bad, but yeah.
Me: You shouldn’t choose to harm for personal gain. It doesn’t matter if the harm is less than, say, Exxon’s.
X: I have a responsibility to my family. I have to prioritise them over the climate.
Me: So, you would have chosen to use, say, leaded petrol even after it was confirmed that it was unambiguously an environmental disaster?
X: Of course. High octane fuel is better for the car.
Me: Oh, just fuck off. Asshole.
X: Typical. Resorting to insults when you’ve lost the argument.
Me: Ugh. Goodbye.